Buy my book!

Brand new on the shelves of US bookstores this May and available through amazon, Digital Dish contains contributions from foodblog writers around the world, including thepassionatecook.
If you're interested, please buy via paypal using one of the buttons below!

Jul 07, 2007

Smoked haddock & purple-sprouting broccoli quiche

Picnic season is upon us... at least if I consult my calendar! At the moment, nothing could be further from my mind than planning anything involving alfresco eating, given that we've had thunderstorms and even hail most days of the week. But as we are getting ready for another food blogger picnic at the Royal Regatta in Henley today, I have been scouring my recipe folders for sophisticated picnic food. I mean, no way can we show up in Henley with carrot sticks and hoummous and a half-eaten bag of tortilla chips! Especially not since Jeanne was even interviewed on the radio after extensive debates over that most delectable spread we put on last year... we're the talk of the Regatta and I wouldn't be surprised to find some regulars stopping to chat to us again!Quiches have always been a favourite with me for picnics as they transport so well and offer substance without being fiddly to eat. To lighten things up a bit and gie it a more summery feel than your usual leek, onion, bacon and cheese, I opted for smoked haddock paired with purple-sprouting broccoli... it is the end of their season already, but you can substitute regular broccoli and smoked haddock is available all year round anyway, although you could also try salmon, of course. If ever a quiche can be called "light" then this is it - and it is just as lovely served luke-warm on a picnic blanket as it is straight from the oven...

Line a 22 cm loose-bottomed flan tin with the shortcrust pastry (the fat content makes buttering the mould redundant). Bline-bake in the pre-heated oven at 200 C for 10 minutes, then set aside.Place the smoked haddock in a non-stick pot with the milk and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the haddock is soft and flaky. Reserve the milk and discard the skin. Flake the fish.Blanch the broccoli in a pot with boiling salt water for about 5 minutes, immediately refresh in a bowl of ice water, drain and set aside.Beat the eggs with the milk and the single cream, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir in the parmesan. Add the haddock.Arrange the broccoli in the pastry case, then pour over the cream with the fish and place in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at 200 C. Make sure to check that the mixture has completely set (a metal skewer should come out clean), otherwise continue cooking until it has.Leave to cool slightly before serving with some salad on the side.

Smoked haddock must pair well with the creamy egginess. Wish I was there to taste.

My latest quiche pairing has been to spread a tapenade or black olive paste on the base before filling with chopped cooked spinach and the rest. It gives a great salty kick and extra flavour dimension.

Hello Joanna, I saw your comments on Steamy Kitchens blog(love her blog and she is so clever and funny!) and thought...another blog from UK possibly?... Seems I was right! I live just outside Henley. I avoided the regatta like the plague. My daughter rowed for 5 years and I certainly have had enough regattas for a lifetime! But it is a good day out if it isn't raining.
I will tune in to your blog more frequently now I know you exist.

I love purple sprouting broccoli. My mother has always grown it in her garden, so it is part of the food I grew up with. It is the first of the spring vegetables, and so it marks the season for me, just as brambles and damsons mark autumn. Just as you become very tired of winter and endless cabbage and root vegetables, along comes beautiful PSB with its sensual texture and delicious bitter flavour. Commercial growers have extended its season to most of the first half of the summer, but its true place and value is as the first trumpet blast of a new year's vegetables in March or April, both delicious in itself and telling you that very soon there will be asparagus and all the other wonders of summer.